A powerful explosion at a factory in eastern China's Jiangsu Province Wednesday has left 10 people dead and 14 others seriously injured, local government said.

Officials of the government of Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu, told a press conference held around 8 p.m. that 10 people were killed and 14 others suffered serious injuries after the blast ripped through an abandoned plastics factory in northern Nanjing.

More than 120 people were hospitalized, according to the conference.

The blast was caused by a gas leak after a propylene pipeline was damaged when workers dismantled factory buildings of the Nanjing No. 4 Plastics Factory, said a statement from the State Administration of Work Safety.

The explosion occurred when a motorist started a car engine at the scene, igniting the leaking gas, the administration said.

The pipeline, transporting propylene to the factory, had been shut down, it said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2010)